Exploring the Knowledge and Needs of Early Childhood Development Practitioners from a Low-Resource Community

Abstract

Early childhood development (ECD) practitioners from low-resource communities may find it challenging to provide developmentally appropriate services to support child development, due to the increased risk of developmental delays. Practitioners rely on their ECD knowledge when delivering ECD services, but many practitioners in South Africa are underqualified. The knowledge and needs of practitioners from low-resource communities should be explored to develop and implement appropriate support services. A combined Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) and KIDI-Preschool (KIDI-P) tool was used to investigate ECD knowledge, and a questionnaire was utilised to determine participants' needs. The mean score for their ECD knowledge was 47.0%. ECD qualification and experience were not identified as significant contributors for better knowledge scores, but having a high school education (β = 4.702, t = 3.387, p = 0.001), being a parent (β = 3.764, t = 2.091, p = 0.038), training completed 5 or more years ago (β = 4.271, t = 2.142, p = 0.034), and a need for information on developmental milestones (β = 2.399, t = 1.992, p = 0.048) were. The most commonly reported need was related to training and furthering knowledge. The findings provide insight into the knowledge base of ECD practitioners, their needs as well as significant contributors to better ECD knowledge. Implications for practice can be guided by the Nurturing Care Framework (World Health Organization 2019), since the participants and findings from the study can be contextualised within it. ECD practitioners, especially those from low-resource communities, need adequate support in the crucial role they are playing.Further research should be conducted to determine consistency of the findings.

Assessing parents’ awareness about children’s “first thousand days of life”: a descriptive and analytical study

“…This result showed that awareness of parents with higher education degrees concerning the “first thousand days and the effect this period on children’s development” is higher than the awareness of other parents. This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies that showed the awareness of educated parents, especially mothers [ 30 ], and knowledge of professionals [ 36 ] with higher education about early childhood development are higher. On the contrary, this study showed that the education degree has an inverse relationship with the awareness concerning the “use of digital media by children”.…”

mHealth-Supported Hearing Health Training for Early Childhood Development Practitioners: An Intervention Study

“…Improved knowledge scores confirm that the mHealth training program provided meaningful educational information and that the training successfully met learning objectives on hearing health in young children ( Table 1 ). ECD practitioners’ knowledge is crucial for inclusive ECD classes, where exceptional teaching and caring practices are necessary for the holistic development of vulnerable children [ 14 , 38 ]. With the widespread diversity and background of children in ECD centres and schools, especially in LMICs, teachers and ECD practitioners need specialised knowledge competencies and skills to provide nurturing care and an auspicious learning environment for children with special needs [ 38 ].…”

“…Early childhood development (ECD) programs aim to provide services for optimal childhood development while ensuring general health. ECD centres, particularly in LMICs and low-socioeconomic-status (SES) communities, serve as front-line healthcare platforms for early detection, with ECD practitioners often acting as primary caregivers [ 14 , 15 ]. Therefore, ECD practitioners play a critical role in preventing and detecting developmental risks in young children, including hearing loss [ 14 , 16 ].…”

“…ECD centres, particularly in LMICs and low-socioeconomic-status (SES) communities, serve as front-line healthcare platforms for early detection, with ECD practitioners often acting as primary caregivers [ 14 , 15 ]. Therefore, ECD practitioners play a critical role in preventing and detecting developmental risks in young children, including hearing loss [ 14 , 16 ]. A study by Abraham and colleagues [ 17 ] investigated the feasibility of training teachers at day-care centres regarding primary ear care and observed an increase in average knowledge scores from 28.4% pre-training to 86% post training.…”

Decent work, capabilities and flourishing at work

“…Teachers must constantly deal with a lack of resources, poor infrastructure at centres and children who grew up in deprived circumstances (Baloyi and Makhubela, 2018). Additionally, poor management of government services exacerbates the problems related to early childhood education (Smit et al , 2021; Visser et al , 2021). The factors mentioned above necessitate research regarding the well-being of early childhood teachers (Cumming, 2017; Hall-Kenyon et al , 2014).…”